Our services are tailored to the individual. Through a careful evaluation, each individual participant receives a personalized plan of care developed in conjunction with their own personal care team. With Summit ElderCare, participants and their caregivers have access to experts in geriatric care who work as a team to help participating elders live healthy, productive lives in the comfort of a home-based setting rather than an institutionalized environment such as a nursing home.
One of the most important ways We Share The CareSM at Summit ElderCare is through a care plan for each participant. In addition to their individual care plans and 24-hour telephone access to the care team, participants no longer need to worry about ongoing expenses for home-based care, copayments for medical services and prescription drugs. Additionally, once a participant is enrolled in the Summit ElderCare program, there is no paperwork or claims forms to worry about.
We Share The CareSM through teamwork
It's the Summit ElderCare Interdisciplinary team that brings their multiple disciplines and specialties to the goal of providing coordinated care to patients and their caregivers. A personal physician, nurse practitioner, registered nurse, social worker, rehabilitation and activities coordinator, health aides and other professionals form the team. Each member of the team individually assesses the participant's health needs. If necessary, specialists are added to the process to more fully share the care and achieve care planning goals.
Family matters to our team
The team also works with the participant's family members and caregivers to develop a plan that takes all the health, family and personal considerations into account. Through their inclusion in the team's coordinated care plan, caregivers can alert the team members to any changes or health concerns they observe so that adjustments and action can be taken as early as possible.
Help at home
In addition to the benefits of periodic attendance at the Adult Day Health Center site at 277 E. Mountain St. in Worcester or attending ADHC services at the St. Francis Home at 101 Plantation St., Summit ElderCare also provides in-home assistance with participant's daily activities, based on each individual's needs. Covered services can include medication management, emergency response systems, bathing, dressing, safety evaluations, light housekeeping, and assistance with meal preparation. The Summit ElderCare team recommends and authorizes all services in collaboration with the participant and caregivers to help the participants to stay in their home-based setting.
Care and counsel for caregivers
Being a caregiver is an important role, but it can also become overwhelming at times. At Summit ElderCare we also support caregivers through individualized consultation on their loved one's care plans, 24-hour telephone access for emergencies, and caregiver support groups. By sharing the care through our caregiver support, we try to help ensure that caregivers have adequate supports in place and a more reasonable role in working together to support the participant's desire to live in a home environment.